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Between Silver & Gold?

Hi, I'm looking to get a new sample library to go with Halion. I'm currently using an old Akai library of Advanced Orchestra, but I never thought that much of it and as it was given to me by my university (they never used it!) i'm also unsure as to the legality of me using it, and as I'm starting to get commercial work I'd like something new and better.

I originally looked at GPO, but as I already use (and like) Halion, and plan to upgrade to v3 soon, I'd prefer something that isn't tied into a player vsti. I looked at Symphonic Silver and it does sound good, but the solo instruments sound a bit iffy, I guess due to the lack of articulations. Having said that, a lack of good solo sounds isn't too big a deal as I'd rather get in the odd real musician to do that kind of thing. My other concern with Silver is that all the demos i've heard sound VERY reverberant. Is this to do with the original samples, or have they just piled on the verb to make the demos sound nicer?

Despite being generally very impressed by the above, I do have a little more money to spend than the cost of those two apps, which are both roughly £200 over here. However, the Gold version of SO is out of my budget at £600-odd. So I'm wondering, does anyone know of any good, open format (ie something I can convert to Halion such as Giga) orchestral libraries that are a bit of a step up from SO Silver, but not as expensive as SO Gold?

I do like the fact that SO Silver comes with choir, so something with choir too would be a bonus

Re: Between Silver & Gold?

[QUOTE=mahoobley] So I'm wondering, does anyone know of any good, open format (ie something I can convert to Halion such as Giga) orchestral libraries that are a bit of a step up from SO Silver, but not as expensive as SO Gold?
QUOTE]

I think VSL's Opus is cheaper than QLSO Gold, right?

(Silver has reverb in the samples, but you have to add some verb because it doesnt have releases (apart from the Gold violins patch). I use way too much reverb, but thats becuase I am c*ap

Re: Between Silver & Gold?

VSL Opus is indeed out of my price range.

I also did a bit more looking and found that SO Silver does in fact also use a Kompakt player, however it does allow you to import them into Kontakt which as far as I am aware is not possible with GPO.

If, however it does not import into Halion then it may turn me off the product. I like using Halion, I like the flexibility it gives me, and it would seem almost pointless to have bought as I initially only got it to use with Advanced Orchestra, and only use it for a few other duties. I understand with the lower risk of piracy the makers can afford to sell at the lower price, however I do not like this restrictiveness, and there is something slightly dubiously anti-competitive about allowing it to be imported into NI's own Kontakt but not into their rival Steinberg's application Halion.

Re: Between Silver & Gold?

GPO will also open up in Kontakt. Silver and GPO both use the same monolithic file format. Neither library will open in Halion.

I guess this may be an argument which has come up in the past, but can I state I DO understand the rationalle behind locking the samples to an application (ie the Kompakt player).

However, is this rationalle rather undermined by allowing you to import into Kontakt? In fact it could be a bit legally dubious in terms of anti-competition laws. For example, if I was to think about what software sampler I was going to buy now, I would seriously consider Kontakt over Halion due to the fact I can import these libraries. In the past obviously there were different formats for different systems, but there was nothing to stop you converting them. However now they are blocking this in the name of anti-piracy, but allowing you to use them in other software by the same company but not other companies. That sounds dodgy to me.

My other thought was that with Halion3 and GS3 out soon there could be new exciting libraries in these formats so maybe I should wait for them, but then if its a while I can get GSO or SO Silver as a stop gap until then. However I understand that I am NOT ALLOWED to sell my copy on due to the usage restrictions of the sample sets - is this true?

If these are thing that have come up often before, feel free to tell me to shut up